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I've asked LQMT to please update the blog twice now over the last two weeks. They started it. How about updating it at least monthly?
Has anyone reported on the picture of the Audi in the garage under the Markets/Automotive section of the LQMT website?
Jason Bond article
WHY LIQUIDMETAL CEO BETS $62 MILLION OF HIS OWN MONEY
Sections:
IS LIQUIDMETAL CEO PROFESSOR LUGEE LI ‘FOR REAL’?
‘SILENCE’ AT LIQUIDMETAL BROKEN THIS YEAR
WHAT WILL BE THE CATALYST FOR A LQMT BREAKOUT?
THE ‘TWEET’ THAT DROVE ME TO MY BET ON LQMT
TESLA GLASS CONNECTION WITH LIQUIDMETAL
LIQUIDMETAL/TESLA CONNECTION: UNBREAKABLE
CONCLUSION: MY BET ON LQMT IS SAFE
IS LIQUIDMETAL CEO PROFESSOR LUGEE LI FOR REAL?
As promised in my last report, this report presents a summary of a culmination of two weeks of research, snooping into database, and applying tested business strategies and tactics to my thinking about the Liquidmetal business model and likelihood of success. Importantly, I’ve satisfied myself with answers to two mysterious questions surrounding Liquidmetal.
One: why would a scientist and businessman from Hong Kong come to the United States and drop $62 million of his own money into a company with almost no revenue and a $5.6 million annual cash-burn rate?
And, two: what evidence suggests this Hong Kong businessman is not another unrealistic investor on a mission of folly?
I mean, is this man, professor/scientist, principal stockholder and CEO of Liquidmetal, professor Lugee Li, embarking on what is destined to become merely an expense hobby of his, resulting in “investors” morphing into de facto ‘angel investors’ of his cause? Or, is professor Li setting a table for a massive banquet, as he has done with his first company: Eontec, Liquidmetal Technologies sister enterprise---and profitable, 24-year-old enterprise, worth $1.51 billion.
Courtesy of Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., CEO Professor Li
Well, that’s the deal. Either professor Li is another shameless stock promoter, like an Andy Marsh of Plug Power (ticker: PLUG), who gladly states on Plug Power’s website that his “top priority is to serve as Plug Power’s chief promoter,” or is professor Li a man who speaks softly but carries a big stick? He sure is quiet, and I’d like to see how big his stick is.
So, there you have it. One day, professor Li of Hong Kong flies into the U.S., plops $62 million on the table and buys complete control of Liquidmetal Technologies, a company of which, whose only real assets are a vault-full of patents, no real revenue, and no plant of much capacity---only intellectual property.
But after taking control of the company in Dec. 2016, professor Li quickly built a state-of-the-art plant of significant capacity, and launched an ‘open house’ to the public as if he debuted a novel and ‘hip’ coffee shop.
So, I scratched my head earlier this year until now, and wondered why my expectations of more action in LQMT hasn’t materialized, yet. Patience, of course, is how I’ve made some of my biggest ‘scores’. But, I seriously dug into my research skill set to answer the two nagging questions we all have. So, what does this businessman from Hong Kong see others don’t see? And why was Li so anxious to plop a whopping-fat bag a cash on the proverbial roulette wheel of this amorphous metals technologies market?
A streetwise observer of the Liquidmetal story must, therefore, conclude that the likelihood of a rigged wheel in professor Li’s favor must be high. And we must conclude professor Li knows the wheel is rigged.
Folks, it’s pretty straight forward. And I’ve never seen anything like this, and never in this way. And I intend to prove in this report that professor Lugee Li has rigged the wheel. I’ve crossed every ‘T’ and dotted each ‘I’ during my investigative research, and have arguably uncovered the details of this $62 million ‘whodunnit’.
And it’s big! It must be. Right? The only alternative conclusion that must be drawn is, that Li is just another pie-in-the-sky scientist (a la Andy March and his battery scam) who also suffers from a terrible gambling habit.
So, allow my to demonstrate, that professor Li is no gambler. In essence, what Li has done is akin to a chess grandmaster winning a complex game by forcing a ‘zugzwang’, whereby the professor’s opponent must legally move a piece into the trap of the professor’s mating net.
‘SILENCE’ AT LIQUIDMETAL BROKEN THIS YEAR
Okay, let’s start with Entrepreneurship 101: Who is Li’s target customer?
Answer: Innovative producers.
We’ve seen Apple and Tesla, arguably the two most iconic and innovative companies of the 21st century, are already Liquidmetal customers at the initial stage of this amorphous metals technologies revolution. Presently, Liquidmetal sister-company Eontec makes amorphous metal door-lock cases for Tesla. And periodically, Apple pays for updated and limited patent rights developed by Liquidmetal.
So far, revenue from both customers doesn’t pay the bills. Big deal. Right? Is the puny stream of revenue from these two companies the full extent of the relationship between Liquidmetal and both Apple and Tesla?
Hardly.
These relationships are only in the honeymoon phase ( the ‘beta run’ phase of the mass production protocol). But now that the honeymoon period is passing, and now I clearly see why the relationships are likely to ‘get real’. And it’s the Tesla relationship with Liquidmetal, specifically, where I see Tesla CEO Elon Musk and professor Li no longer able to contain the industry secrets that these two men have been holding from investors of both TSLA and LQMT for so long.
I expect the long silence from Liquidmetal will be broken this year, along with the range-bound share price of LQMT, as Elon Musk’s reputation for intimating what’s next for Tesla ushers into mainstream financial media at some time during the second-half of this calendar year. By then, Liquidmetal cannot contain the leaks originating from the company about its role in Musk’s next act.
Last week, we’ve already seen big volume in LQMT without announcements or ‘article mention’. So, something is rumbling within the walls of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, an I surmised what the rumblings are all about.
WHAT WILL BE THE CATALYST FOR A LQMT BREAKOUT?
The LQMT price breakout will come via the unveiling of Tesla’s next innovation (or leak of a coming announcement). A that time, the finger as to where Tesla will be getting it technology/parts will be pointed at a handful of supplier, with Liquidmetal Technologies as one of them. That’s when the stampede into LQMT will commence in earnest. And, if anyone remembers the frenzy of buying that took place during the marijuana stock craze of 2013, the price pattern of LQMT may well look like the price patterns of ‘pot stocks’ in that year of emancipation of a wildly popular substance.
Bear with me on this report. Much of what needs to be aired in this report about Liquidmetal is about Tesla, from where the catalyst for LQMT investors will come. But, after I’m done laying out my discoveries and analysis, you’ll immediately see the connection to Liquidmetal investors and the implications of that connection.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted of extraordinary claims ascribed to his plans for Tesla Glass. When speaking to Wall Street analysts in late-2016, Musk said, “Tesla has created a glass technology group --- with some really phenomenal people,” a group which was later revealed as “Tesla Glass,” a division of Tesla, Inc.
And ever since Musk’s announcement of Tesla Glass, many articles have been published, speculating about the capabilities of Musk’s ideas. In other words, what’s so great about Tesla Glass, aside from its cool looks on rooftops? With an exception of a handful of Musk’s lieutenants and Musk, himself, no one knows the full scope of the planned innovations and the ‘wow’ to come of Tesla Glass.
But, here’s what Musk stated in a tweet that provided me with that tiny glimpse I needed into where Musk is taking Tesla Glass, and how Liquidmetal Technologies/Eontec likely plays a key role in Musk’s dream of leading the world with his space-age technologies. In Musk’s mind (and I have little reservations of stating this), he believes he’s destined to go down in history as the most innovative visionary of futuristic consumer products since Steve Jobs of Apple fame. Therefore, I expect incredible innovations coming out of Tesla Glass.
THE ‘TWEET’ THAT DROVE ME TO MY BET ON LQMT
Okay, here’s the tweet by Musk of Oct. 28, 2016 which gave me more than enough to work with toward the unraveling of the technology ‘secret’ behind future Tesla Glass projects:
“Solar glass tiles can also incorporate heating elements, like rear defroster on a car, to clear roof of snow and keep generating energy,” Musk entitled his tweet.
So, Musk responds to follower, Jon Cahill, who tweeted back the question that blew open a lead to my investigation: “won’t it be energy intensive to melt snow? Would it [solar glass tiles technologies] be net positive?” Cahill asked.
Musk responds with “strongly net positive.”
Ha?
In other words, Musk has implied that light energy harnessed by the sun will provide much more energy back than is now state-of-the-art of photovoltaic (“PV”) systems. From a scientific standpoint, and if true, talk about ‘wow’, I thought. Is Musk implying that he has plans that involve a giant leap in power generated by photovoltaic cells?
Not, at all. The strong implication is, that Musk must be concocting a novel approach to concentrator photovoltaic (“CPV”) modules, a technology that outperforms PV systems by a ‘country mile’.
That is the implication of Musk’s tweet. Scientifically-speaking, Musk has hinted of novel technologies to replace PV on roofs of home throughout the world. I’m not a scientist, but I do know that special metals that contain special properties for handling heat and electrical transfers of energy are involved. There’s no way around this fact. CPV generates a massive amount of energy, therefore, heat! PV modules don’t produce enough energy to clear out snow piles in the Northeast. Musk must be talking about CPV technologies.
Even my good-read friend, Fred Lambert, at Electrek, piqued with interest about Musk’s new glass division, made the connection between Tesla and Musk’s model of inspiration: Apple. But Lambert didn’t journey down the rabbit hole I have since ventured. Maybe, if he had money riding on Liquidmetal, as I do, he would have spent the time in the rabbit hole, too. Right?
Well, anyway, Lambert wrote of the Tesla Glass project this way:
One of the people Musk is calling “phenomenal” would be Mike Pilliod, who is the director of the Tesla Glass group. As we reported in our original coverage of Tesla Glass, Pilliod was one of Apple’s top materials engineers. He is named on a long list of patents at the Cupertino company, most of them having to do with innovations in glass touchscreens and electronic devices using glass, like the iPhone.
According to the patents, he even worked directly with Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer.
It will be interesting to see what Tesla’s new “glass technology group” can come up with for the Model 3.
“It will be interesting to see,” Lambert closes. That’s one rather anticlimactic way of concluding an article about Tesla Glass. But, Lambert missed the whole point. What Musk is working on is much bigger than the glass roof of the Model 3, though the Model 3 will be a part of Musk’s overarching plan.
Think of Musk as a broad-thinking guy who seeks to incorporate all novel technologies into his creations, not just his latest media-sexy automobiles. Narrowing down a technology to the latest cool automobile sells newspapers. I want to know the technology and who’s going to be part of Musk creations.
Back to the scientist mentioned in the Electrek article, Mike Pilliod.
Mike Pilliod was yanked aboard the Musk juggernaut, and is one of the scientific geniuses (formerly with Apple and Cupertino) behind novel materials applications. Pilliod is, roughly, in the same league (in his field) as professor Li and William L. Johnson. And he must be in Li’s league to take on Tesla projects of such technological import.
I looked Pilliod up at Justia Patents, a website that provides user-friendly access to patents and the inventors. There, I found Pilliod's contributions to what eventually became of Apple’s hardware construction as it relates to the functionality of the iPhone screen.
And for those new to LQMT, Apple bought from Liquidmetal (under William Johnson), in Aug. 2010, exclusive patent rights to Liquidmetal technologies, specifically for use in consumer electronics. A month later, Apple was testing the capabilities of amorphous metal injection molding machines.
Courtesy of Engel Austria: Engel/Liquidmetal joint project of the e-motion 110
So, Pilliod is all-too-familiar with Liquidmetal, its technologies, and the ‘wow’ impact these technologies have on consumer spending habits. Therefore, is it a surprise that Pilliod was offered a deal from Elon Musk that he couldn’t refuse?
So, back to the Musk tweet.
TESLA GLASS CONNECTION WITH LIQUIDMETAL
MATERION DR. EDGAR VIDAL
Okay, I mentioned in my last update the importance of Materion Dr. Edgar Vidal. He’s the top scientist and long-term executive at Materion, the company with whom Liquidmetal has a vitally important strategic alliance.
Courtesy of industry trade publication, EPPM: From left: Christoph Lhota and Heinz Rasinger (ENGEL), Dr. Edgar Vidal (Materion), Paul Hauck and Thomas Steipp (Liquidmetal Technologies) and Steffen Mack (Materion).
For those who don’t know Dr. Vidal, he is arguably one of a handful of experts on the commercial application of beryllium of the planet. Dr. Vidal pens:
In a particularly remarkable advance, the use of beryllia ceramic in early electronic ignition systems led to a 20 percent increase in automotive fuel efficiency and reduced pollution. That breakthrough, in other words, amounted to a savings equivalent to taking one of every five cars off the road. More recently, alloys containing beryllium are enabling all-electric and hybrid electric vehicles to operate reliably at high voltages.
Hello? In the latest comment made by Liquidmetal that accompanied its Q1 earnings report, a mention of a prototype order to an automobile maker was completed and delivered. I don’t have insider knowledge, of course, but damn, this prototype must be for an ignition system. Fuel efficiency is crucial to automobile fleets, but is vital to the EV market. Vital!
Dr. Vidal continues:
Beyond traditional energy sources, copper beryllium alloys and beryllia ceramics are increasingly finding favor throughout the two dominant technologies for solar energy’s photovoltaic cells. Alloys with beryllium provide superior thermal management, conductivity and strength in connecting conductive terminals that join solar panels together in the thin film solar arena. In the alternative concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology, the superior thermal management properties of beryllia ceramics allow cells to operate at very high solar concentrations, already achieving 1,000 times the intensity of the sun, while still keeping the delicate electronics of the CPV cell cool, a critical factor for adding solar power to the electric grids in areas with abundant sunshine.
What? A double ‘hello’?!
Now, that is one ‘whopper’ of a metal. Think of it; beryllium ceramic allows solar cell to operate at 1,000-times the intensity of the sun, yet provides properties that prevent overheating electronic components. And use of beryllium is not a technology on the scientist’s ‘drawing board’; it’s being used now in solar applications---but, and I stress “but,” the process by which beryllium is used now is not used in residential PV applications; it’s used in CPV applications at solar farms.
It appears Musk has plans to take CPV to residential homes. This is huge, because it means individuals can take the matter of removing themselves from the grid much more rapidly, at a jump leap, really. And, at this time, I won’t get into how beryllium can solve the Tesla autonomous vehicle and battery problem, both of which are reason enough to incorporate this metal in Tesla’s fleet. That’s another significant article for another time.
And there are more technologies on the shelf for Musk to salivate over….
In addition to beryllium, there’s one more piece of this puzzle, and that piece is another incredible technology, called “quantum dots.” A quick explanation of quantum dots as an application of solar technologies can be found here ( YouTube video, 2 min. 19 sec., entitled, TRANSPARENT Solar Panels?! ).
Note: the video, entitled, TRANSPARENT Solar Panels?!, discusses silicone as the metal used in quantum dots. I’ll tie in beryllium to the new solar glass envisioned by Musk later in the article.
After watching the summary of what quantum dots can do for solar applications, it should ‘ring a bell’ to exactly how Musk intends to deliver on his promise of “net positive” energy in addition to the energy required to, humorously, “melt snow,” as cheeky as Musk put it.
Realistically, Musk knows the vast majority of his followers are ‘groupies’, like ‘trekkies’, I imagine. I mean…he’s not going to discuss quantum dots through his Twitter account, giving up his secret formula. Instead, he’s going to ‘wow’ the ‘peanut gallery’ ticket holders with what his technology will do for them. Smart. After all, in the minds of the public, Elon Musk is the ‘Willy Wonka’ of Tesla’s ‘everlasting gobstopper’ technologies. Right?
The takeaway from this section of my article is, that beryllium achieves the performance Musk seeks for his Tesla Glass project and for his strategic plan for future Model 3 automobiles and engineering issues that threaten to hurt the reputation of his everlasting gobstopper project.
Materion is a $1.5 billion company, as well as the no. 1 company who can offer a combination of supplier and experienced handler of beryllium of the world. The company precedes the WWII years with the application side of this metal, and has been advising world-class manufacturers about its use via secret formulas concocted by Materion (back then called Brush Engineering Materials) for beryllium applications.
I kid you---not; when I began heavily researching beryllium, I kept running into Materion as an expert source of many articles, white papers, as well as mentions of Dr. Edgar Vidal, in particular, as an expert on the subject of beryllium fluoride (called Flibe salts, or simply, ‘Flibe’), a compound known for its array of characteristics applied to nuclear energy.
But, in the case of Tesla, a different beryllium compound has been formulated by Materion’s Dr. Vidal, as well as another one formulated by Liquidmetal for applications suited for Tesla. It doesn’t matter who has the winning formula, because Liquidmetal makes its money from the application process of both.
Speaking about beryllium within the context of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride to an audience of peers, Dr. Vidal states:
Flibe, itself, is not combustible. It’s a very stable material…thermal conductivity. This is very rare for a molten salt. If you talk to concentrated solar power people. They use molten salts… If the [U.S. and European] solar industry were willing to handle beryllium, they’d love to use Flibe. I mean, to have a thermal conductivity of 1.00 and a heat capacity of 0.50…that is amazing. They would love that.
We have a patent application, which we will probably keep as a secret for the next 20 years…My CEO decided that the process I invented, we would go ahead and patent and we would put the pressure to keep it a secret patent.
I did this on my own. I proved it. It’s sitting there. I created this process, and now I’m encouraging you guys to make this work, because I told my CEO that we’ll eventually be using Flibe. We will be using it.
If you watch the entire lecture (YouTube video: 33 min. 45 sec.), you can clearly see Vidal pushes beryllium hard as the answer to increasing the mechanics of energy sources to harness much more of it. And that lecture took place in the year 2013.
Remember, Tesla began trading as a public company in 2010. And what Tesla was planning back then must have been on Vidal’s radar, as it must have been on Musk’s radar when he took the reigns of Tesla in 2008. If you review Elon Musk’s Master Plan, the claims made must have followed his knowledge of beryllium as the metal to affect his dream.
There must be only a small handful of commercial scientists at the level of Dr. Vidal in the realm of the material properties and applications of beryllium. Vidal states in his lecture that he pressed his CEO of the upcoming importance of beryllium, even spending his own time on the process he thought necessary to develop what turned out to be a “secret ‘patent” compound formula held by Materion.
Materion video about beryllium: Beryllium: Versatile, High Performance Material (video length 2 min. 4 sec.)
Technologies that come to market don’t appear the year prior and applied immediately. The entire infrastructure for the new technology must be in place, first. Materion was always ready, but the guys and gals who make it happen at the commercial level must be tooled and budgeted to make a buck out of the new technology. Dr. Vidal foresaw the market for beryllium some years ago. Thanks to Elon Musk’s extraordinary initiatives, the consumer market for these 21st technologies are opening in front of our eyes.
Oh, by the way, and a quick look into Materion’s latest 10-Q reveals the company emphasized a double-digit (y-o-y) growth rate of beryllium compound revenue. While government projects have been applying exotic metals in space for the past 50 years, twenty-first-century applications of beryllium to the consumer market are happening---right now.
LIQUIDMETAL/TESLA CONNECTION: UNBREAKABLE
In the past, I’ve talked about nanotechnology biotech stocks that had sprung up following scientific breakthroughs. Now, I’m talking about the same breakthrough and stock-price action that we’ve seen in biotech companies who take the initiative that’s now coming to ‘boring’ materials stocks including LQMT. So, if you like micro-cap biotech companies, you’ll like LQMT that much more, as the stock is the only pure play of the world that’s backed by a company at holds the no. 1 position of readiness throughout the world to deliver what Tesla needs now: Liquidmetal.
So far, I’ve made the connection between Elon Musk’s intriguing tweet and where he must go to ‘make good’ on shareholders’ expectations. I’ve outlined the specific and ready-to-go technologies Musk must employ. And I have found the pedigree of distinction in the field of materials (Materion, who happens to be a Liquidmetal strategic partner), especially in the specific material in question: beryllium.
Okay, here’s the breakthrough in solar energy that the idea behind quantum dots must incorporate, and must have been in Musk’s mind when he made what appeared to most as a seemingly innocuous tweet about “strongly net positive.” I mean, Electrek’s Lambert did catch the implication.
The release of this scientific report, entitled, A review of the promises and challenges of micro-concentrator photovoltaics was in the year 2017, but references to micro-CPV go back to at least as early as 2015. I warn you; unless you’re steeped in chemistry and solar cell technologies, the text of the above-reference link is tough reading to read between the lines of other applications beyond the semiconductor application of micro-CPV to Tesla’s empire.
Therefore, I’ll boil it down for you. In short, though the white paper mentions the challenges associated with fabrication, the Engel/Liquidmetal e-motion 110 sports tolerances of +/- 0.025 mm. That a tolerance of 1/40th of a millimeter. Holy cow.
The price for reducing cell size is paid on manufacturability. A variety of challenges appear: the manipulation and interconnection of thousands of elements per m2, the optical alignment of different stages with micrometric precision, the fabrication of precision micro-optics, the usage of advanced materials, the integration of microsystems over large areas…
A square meter calculates to 1,000,000 square millimeters, leaving 10 sq./mm left if 10,000 elements are needed per square meter. A tolerance of +/- 0.025mm per 10 sq./mm should be more than adequate.
And if anyone thinks Liquidmetal isn’t up to the task, in an Aug. 17, 2010 article, popular consumer technology and science publication, Gizmodo, states, “It [Liquidmetal] has fans at NASA, which has sent it to space a handful of times for experiments, and once in solar wind collector tiles above the doomed Genesis probe.” And those solar wind collector tiles were launched in 2001! Solar wind collector tiles? Hmm?
Okay, here’s the section that talks about “quantum dots” and luminescent particles (quantum dots demonstration, video length: 53 sec.).
Embedded or integrated tracking schemes are of special interest for micro-CPV due to its thin form factor, which would open up their use in rooftop systems. Most concepts can be divided in two categories: either the optics or the cell are moved throughout the day in order to keep the cell at the focus, or some physical change is operated at the site of the concentrated spot in order to guide the light towards the solar cell. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) may fall into this category as well.
Luminescent particles (organic-dyes or quantum dots) are embedded inside waveguide material (e.g. in secondary optics). Photons are absorbed from direct and diffuse sunlight and are re-emitted….
Beryllium (more specifically, a beryllium and silicone compound) is lightweight, a great conductor of heat for the purpose of cooling via a tangent heat sink, luminescent when light energy is introduced, and able to conduct electricity 25,000-times better than silicone while concurrently provide the cooling for optimal performance. In other words, Materion Dr. Edgar Vidal is way ahead in his thinking about the issues discussed in this white paper. And Liquidmetal has already jumped the production hurdles stated in this report. Liquidmetal is the only company capable of making mico-CPV a reality. I’m sure Mike Pilliod at Tesla Glass has briefed Musk about this.
The problem with concentrated photovoltaics (“CPV”) is its bulkiness, making it suitable for solar farms, which from the perspective of Musk, also means government involvement and slow death of his momentum. But with micro-CPV technology, as small as 10mm squares, now can be produced for residential (and commercial) roof tops and, yes, windshields, too (think Big Sky), and operate at an efficiency of at least more twice the efficiency of Tesla Glass PV tiles. I’m sure that Musk is going with micro-CPV at Tesla Glass.
So, now what? Who’s going to make these 10mm-square tiles? Tesla Glass (through supplier, American Glass Products in Peru). And how will Musk make them? First, he needs the materials. That’s a job for Materion.
Second, he needs the actual manufacturing process, techniques and fabrication know-how to produce these tiny wonders. That must come from Liquidmetal.
And the machines that make the 10mm tiles (or larger) come from Engel, another Liquidmetal strategic partner, who makes the Liquidmetal amorphous metal machines. Engel is another top pedigree company in the art of machine making.
And if you look into the process of making amorphous metal compounds, it’s mind-boggling. I mean, truly incredible. The machines that produce the finished product, using the patented fabrication process of Liquidmetal, are remarkable. With vacuum chambers and sophisticated software to time the instant flash-cooling that necessitates the proper molecular randomness required to produce amorphous metals, you’d understand why Liquidmetal is indispensable to Elon Musk. There is no other company that Liquidmetal that has patented the fabrication process of beryllium and silicone for micro-CPV applications and can produce the product right now!
And here’s the international patent list for Liquidmetal, courtesy of World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”). I’ve linked the patent that includes the scientific description of the silicone/beryllium compound (Si1-zBez) in question. The entire compound ’s listed within the summary description of the patent is (in chemical notation): (Au1-x(Ag1-y Pdy)x)aCub((Si1-zBez)1-vPv. The notation, “zBez,” is beryllium (Be) with an “isomer’, I was told, while the process by which these formulae create the magic of amorphous metal silicone beryllium quantum dots is also listed in the “Also published as” section of the patent “ES2342673 (T3).”
Through the grapevine of discussions about co-founder of Liquidmetal, William L. Johnson, it appears the fabrication process couldn’t be perfected by way of prototype by Liquidmetal during his reign of the company until Professor Li came by with his lifeblood bag of $62 million.
Therefore, as I see it, Professor Li and his $62 million was the missing piece that turned LQMT into a viable stock for me. With the help of Materion materials expertise (Dr. Edgar Vidal, specifically) and Engel’s machine-making prowess, Musk now can make his second-generation Tesla Glass tiles---for his residential solar tiles business and critical Big Sky production for Tesla’s next ‘wow’ moment.
CONCLUSION: MY BET ON LQMT IS SAFE
If we go back to my two question at the start of this report, which are:
One: why would a scientist and businessman from Hong Kong come to the United States and drop $62 million of his own money into a company with almost no revenue and a $5.6 million annual cash-burn rate?
Answer: Li knew that all he had to do is buy Liquidmetal patents and wait for the ‘zugzwang’ developing in Elon Musk’s overarching strategic plans.
And, two: what evidence suggests this Hong Kong businessman is not another unrealistic investor on a mission of folly?
Answer: from the delineation of technologies available to Musk, and motive of this Liquidmetal prized customer, it’s clear of the motive behind professor Li’s investment, rapid expansion of plant capacity and bonded strategic partnerships. It would be naive to think this Hong Kong businessman didn’t already know about the feasibility of micro-CPV technologies when he plopped $62 million on the table to buy, essentially, only patents and an annual $5.6 million cash-burn rate. Li must have assurances of more than a mere handshake, but he cannot reveal industry secrets, yet.
Li is a professor, with knowledge of who’s doing what, and about what, in academia far before science laymen of investors, like I am. Knowing what Tesla was up to as far back as (2015, probably much earlier), all Li had to do is turn the application of Tesla’s futuristic technologies into a lucrative business for himself when he bought Liquidmetal in Dec. 2016.
So…no, professor Li is no dreamer. For me, taking his original enterprise, Eontec, to a $1.5 billion might prove to be only the first act for the vibrant 57-year-old Li. I have money riding on being a part of Li’s second act. And when an announcement of a Tesla contract is issued, folks, it will be too late.
Disclosure: I am long LQMT in 2 portfolios between $.23 and $.26 looking for a big win sometime in 2018, ideally a 52-week breakout. Specific catalysts I'm watching: 1. iPhone 11 runup (historically 100%+ from March to September 2. contract news with a larger company like TSLA or AAPL 3. profitability (2019?). I don't anticipate changing my thesis anytime soon, have been holding for nearly a year, however, should something change you'll be the first to know.
Do you mean Protec - a coating equipment manufacturer?
You may not know anymore than what is said here, but I'm wondering if this would have shown in 2017 revenue or recent production. Is this an old link or brand new? Do you know? Thank you.
Thank you for the agreement. LMT territories seem very generous
But Eontec doesn't get the revenues necessarily. America and Europe and South America(?) are LQMT's territories, correct? Maybe someone can clarify the way the revenues for Eontec and LQMT will work.
You might be right. I have one of the putters, and on a sunny day there's way too much reflection to even putt.
It just makes sense to me that "glass glass" is always going to be a problem. Liquidmetal "glass" has to be in the future for Apple phones for wireless charging and durability
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-iphone-x-drop-test/
First thing, "put a cover on it". You don't need no stinkin cover for Liquidmetal. Bring it on.
I guess I'm a little late with this news; Apple's second-generation iPhone SE will come with a rear glass panel that could enable it to support Qi-compatible wireless charging accessories, according to Indian tech website Tekz24.
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/09/iphone-se-2-may-have-glass-back-wireless-charging/?utm_source=osx&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=front
I like the elevator analogy. Thank you.
You provide some sanity to this group, and I appreciate the calming affect.
Good post. Thank you, person from Canada.
All that needs to be done to raise this share price, is for me to sell a large part of my position and voila, news of contracts. I'm not going to fall on that sword. I'm waiting for the inevitable good news and Good News(for those of us)
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. Thank you for making it. It's the only thing we need to hear at this point in the life of this stock, other than real facts about what's going on in the manufacturing plant of LQMT.
BS Glasses are important...agreed. LOL. Thank. you.
Thank you friend from Canada. I too hate the agendas on this board. It's too much for a neophyte like myself to deal with on a continuing basis. I'm a firm believer in Radical Candor...a "loving honesty" that doesn't "try" to take advantage of people. I'm not being realistic that people will not be overtaken by their greed, but I sure wish some day it could change. Oh well. Back to real life.
Great response.
Good post, Gorgol. Thank you.
Yes, me too. it's my last chance to build something, and although I hated the drop in price, I'm in it to the end, of it or me. LOL. Good luck Longs.
So is there an after-market available for LQMT?
Post-Market:$0.260.00 (0.30%)
Thank you for helping me to understand.
Best of luck, Gorgol. We've missed you. Rick Stevens
The PDF on Liquidmetal was excellent. Thanks for sharing.
I was thinking, why doesn't LQMT advertise on TV at least once, to introduce the future to the world. Like a 30 second run on the bouncing steel balls and some of the facts on hardness and elasticity, etc. It seems that an investment in a series of commercials on the product would explode interest.
Thank you for your summary. Not having been there, I really appreciate the information and the optimism. Rick Stevens
I agree completely with your post. This is a new Liquidmetal Technology. It seems inevitable for it to succeed. Thanks for your post. Spot on.
I think this is a good sign. No pump/dump action. This also bodes well post-Open House if no contract or substantive information. I'm pleased with the price at this point. Anyone else share this analysis or rather hypothesis.
Question: Could Lugee Li announce a contract at the Open House without it being considered not part of general knowledge available to everyone, therefore be insider information? Just curious and wondering what the rules are for announcements.
Let's put pressure where it should be put...on Liquid Metal Technologies. Let's make a collective effort to say we need information on where things stand. Do we have contracts? Are the machines producing? We need to tell them to be more open about what's happening. It's ridiculous that a company is not more open with its shareholders. IMHO. Thank you.
Innovative Materials Group's response to my question:
Hi Richard,
We are not associated with LiquidMetal Technologies, Inc.
Best regards,
Bryan Reimers
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26497 Rancho Parkway South
Lake Forest, CA 92630
949.344.2248 office
949.413.1102 mobile
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On Sep 24, 2017, at 5:23 AM, Squarespace <no-reply@squarespace.info> wrote:
Name: Richard Stevens
Email Address: richardwstevens@me.com
Subject: Liquid Metal
Message: Are you associated with LiquidMetal Technologies? Thank you.
(Sent via Innovative Materials Group)
Any smoke coming from the roof of Liquidmetal Technology yet? Someone asked if there was any activity, but i didn't see any response. i'm feeling very confident about our future, regardless of when it occurs. It does seem a little silly to speculate on nothing. Let's wait for hard news..it would cut back on what i have to read here also. Smiling.
Exactly. We all need ready cash occasionally. He's no different. it seems pure silliness to think otherwise with everything that we know. LQMT is destined for greatness. Stop poking yourself and making yourself feel bad.
Bryce Van to VP of Finance
I'm a little surprised things don't look like they're "further along". Does this concern anyone else?
So why wouldn't the "shorts" be screaming bloody murder about the price if it's being manipulated? What entity is controlling the price from going down with no revenue?
How does price (pps) stay in this narrow band e.g. 28ish? If it's manipulation, is that legal? Who does this?
OK. Market is open, and I don't see any rush-to-purchase.
So whatever we were all excited about has not come to fruition? Is it too early? Whatever it was, does it take time to build today?
So this means the short-sellers are pretty sure the stock will go down today to cover their shorts? I must say, the past has not been a good indicator that their thinking is correct.